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After posting the first song I ever wrote for children's theater last week (Happy Birthday World, my mother's favorite), I started looking at other older recordings. Then, when a school called and purchased Robin Hood yesterday, I thought, Why not post highlights from some of my youth shows?
During the next month, while I write more Music Interview Blogs and prepare for my summer sessions to finish up the Rain Bather jazz CD (plus do other projects), I will be posting a series of highlights from the youth version of Robin Hood & The Free People of The Forest. I wrote 2 other versions of this show, one which ran off-broadway for 10 months ("Freedom's First Light") and one that I toured with for a few years. This version is performed by kids between 5 and 17 years of age, plus I sing the part of Robin Hood on a few tracks (cuz the recordings were pre-opening demos and the 14-year old kid I cast as Robin wasn't up to snuff yet when we went into the studio).
ROBIN HOOD Highlights (youth version):
Too Many Years (in which the Sheriff walks among the Saxons)
Out Of The Forest (in which Robin boasts & Dianah suggests revolution)
Hail To The Sheriff (in which the Merrie Men capture the Sheriff)
Lay Your Burdens Down (in which Friar Tuck encourages the Sheriff to pay for their feast)
One Less Child (in which Robin, Marion & Dianah lament the death of Much the Miller's Son)
In The Great Dream (in which the women, left behind, dream of a better way)
A couple other demos from my adult version are already posted:
Walls (in which Will Scarlet laments his life, is saved by love)
Here, For A Moment (w/ Emily Rohm) (love song between Robin & Marion)
Sweet Liberty (w/ Jessica Flood) - a song written for and performed at the Statue of LIberty dedication in the mid-80s, later folded into Robin Hood.
During the next month, while I write more Music Interview Blogs and prepare for my summer sessions to finish up the Rain Bather jazz CD (plus do other projects), I will be posting a series of highlights from the youth version of Robin Hood & The Free People of The Forest. I wrote 2 other versions of this show, one which ran off-broadway for 10 months ("Freedom's First Light") and one that I toured with for a few years. This version is performed by kids between 5 and 17 years of age, plus I sing the part of Robin Hood on a few tracks (cuz the recordings were pre-opening demos and the 14-year old kid I cast as Robin wasn't up to snuff yet when we went into the studio).
ROBIN HOOD Highlights (youth version):
Too Many Years (in which the Sheriff walks among the Saxons)
Out Of The Forest (in which Robin boasts & Dianah suggests revolution)
Hail To The Sheriff (in which the Merrie Men capture the Sheriff)
Lay Your Burdens Down (in which Friar Tuck encourages the Sheriff to pay for their feast)
One Less Child (in which Robin, Marion & Dianah lament the death of Much the Miller's Son)
In The Great Dream (in which the women, left behind, dream of a better way)
A couple other demos from my adult version are already posted:
Walls (in which Will Scarlet laments his life, is saved by love)
Here, For A Moment (w/ Emily Rohm) (love song between Robin & Marion)
Sweet Liberty (w/ Jessica Flood) - a song written for and performed at the Statue of LIberty dedication in the mid-80s, later folded into Robin Hood.
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Lyrics
TOO MANY YEARS
Saxon Villagers:
Too many years we serve the Normans.
Too many years they steal us blind.
Too many years we bow before them.
Too many years we live despised.
Too many years they've beat and brutalized;
No end in sight.
In their eyes we're less than cattle fenced up in their fields.
How can we escaped the princely power that they wield?
Beaten down too long.
Long ago at the field of Hastings
Their Norman king came sword in hand,
Slaughtering independent Saxons,
Making us slaves in our own land.
How can we fight their brand of tyranny?
Who'll make a stand?
All day long we work the fields that once belonged to us,
Then we grind the grain to flour that we cannot touch.
Beaten down too long.
Sheriff:
Look at you all, spoiled and dull; no fight, all fraud.
Just get to work. Earn me some perks. I'm getting board.
You realize I hold all your lives in my noble hands?
Village Women:
Morning to night we work the linen,
Sewing up lace and pretty hems.
But only Norman ladies wear them;
We can't afford these precious gems,
Unless we sell our virtue for a price
To Norman men.
All day long we cook and clean with kids strapped to our backs;
No life of our own, repeating empty, endless acts.
Beaten down too long.
Sheriff:
Why do you curse, moan and complain?
Why waste your breath?
I keep you fed, sheltered and safe.
Give me some rest!
Taxes I take! But look what it makes!
Give me some respect.
Male Villagers:
The sweat of your brow won't pay the taxman.
You can't pay the rent with calloused hands.
No matter how hard you work to get on,
Your earnings end up with them instead.
And if you complain, resist or carry on
They strike you dead.
All day long we do their bidding, "Come do this, do that!"
If you even hesitate, they sneer and knock you flat.
Beaten down too long.
Village Women:
Resigned and spent, we lend consent.
We have been giving in.
Disowned and poor, too insecure.
Treated like less than men.
With laws severe, we kneel in fear.
Playing into their hands.
It's time to rise with opened eyes.
It's time for our final stand!
Stand! Stand! Stand!
Saxon Villagers:
Too many years we serve the Normans.
Too many years they steal us blind.
Too many years we bow before them.
Too many years we live despised.
Too many years they've beat and brutalized;
No end in sight.
Dianah & Men:
Too many years we serve the Normans.
Too many years they steal us blind.
Too many years we bow before them.
Too many years we live despised.
Too many years.
Saxon Villagers:
Too many years we serve the Normans.
Too many years they steal us blind.
Too many years we bow before them.
Too many years we live despised.
Too many years they've beat and brutalized;
No end in sight.
In their eyes we're less than cattle fenced up in their fields.
How can we escaped the princely power that they wield?
Beaten down too long.
Long ago at the field of Hastings
Their Norman king came sword in hand,
Slaughtering independent Saxons,
Making us slaves in our own land.
How can we fight their brand of tyranny?
Who'll make a stand?
All day long we work the fields that once belonged to us,
Then we grind the grain to flour that we cannot touch.
Beaten down too long.
Sheriff:
Look at you all, spoiled and dull; no fight, all fraud.
Just get to work. Earn me some perks. I'm getting board.
You realize I hold all your lives in my noble hands?
Village Women:
Morning to night we work the linen,
Sewing up lace and pretty hems.
But only Norman ladies wear them;
We can't afford these precious gems,
Unless we sell our virtue for a price
To Norman men.
All day long we cook and clean with kids strapped to our backs;
No life of our own, repeating empty, endless acts.
Beaten down too long.
Sheriff:
Why do you curse, moan and complain?
Why waste your breath?
I keep you fed, sheltered and safe.
Give me some rest!
Taxes I take! But look what it makes!
Give me some respect.
Male Villagers:
The sweat of your brow won't pay the taxman.
You can't pay the rent with calloused hands.
No matter how hard you work to get on,
Your earnings end up with them instead.
And if you complain, resist or carry on
They strike you dead.
All day long we do their bidding, "Come do this, do that!"
If you even hesitate, they sneer and knock you flat.
Beaten down too long.
Village Women:
Resigned and spent, we lend consent.
We have been giving in.
Disowned and poor, too insecure.
Treated like less than men.
With laws severe, we kneel in fear.
Playing into their hands.
It's time to rise with opened eyes.
It's time for our final stand!
Stand! Stand! Stand!
Saxon Villagers:
Too many years we serve the Normans.
Too many years they steal us blind.
Too many years we bow before them.
Too many years we live despised.
Too many years they've beat and brutalized;
No end in sight.
Dianah & Men:
Too many years we serve the Normans.
Too many years they steal us blind.
Too many years we bow before them.
Too many years we live despised.
Too many years.
LOVE IT!!LOVE IT!!LOVE IT!!